The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-08-03
THE LAWS AND THE FACTS.
A GRAND JURo? IS NoT 1ETIH1DATED,
BUT STANDS TRUE TO HIS CON-
VICTIONS.
Proof as Strong as Holy Writ that
there in Something Wrong With
Our Laws, and that there is a Cry
ing Need of RefOrm...Ifr. Douglass
Speaks In Reply to the "Abbeviile
MoIIuUn

l Our Laws, and that there is u Cry
/ ing Need of RefOrm...Mr. Douglass
Speaks in Reply to the ''Abbeville
Medium
Ed,for Press and Banner:
! The Medium with grent pomp. displays In
huge capitals phrase at the head Of Its conf
mcnts on my last communi'ation, TO VIII !;
"A SQiielchpd Grand Juror" as the first and
most important exhibition of it's good will
and tenderness toward Il grand juror, which
| in such a connection is sO out of place, and in
such want Of taste, as to deserve a rebuke as
long as an ordinary communication. While
there is but little poetry and less truth III TINS
stinled phrase, 1t plainly shows what the
Medium would do with juror for veniilating
| facts rather unpleasant to 1t, and proves the
inclination and disposition to assume the
powers OF n satrap, and 10 crush with It's
Sampsonian jaw.bone all that hold or ex-
| hend This is an exhibition of love and mer
cy with view to squclch juror without II
trial, and without hearing or benefit Of cler-
1t is considered high-handed measure In
this sge and country To traulmel or shackle u
Juror, and yet the Medium has taken OH itself
The office of juror.squelrher.
| In the next line 1t terms the communicl-
ton 81 feeble effort to hcliitle the Medium"
| | would stale in reply, that the effort wes so
| ferb!e as not to be perceptlblo to the writer:
| If the Medium, does not bclitte Itself, 1t need
have no fears Of others seeking such employ
As for ting "eleven inches of bosh'' COM
of planned as being in my communication.
Willie make no claim Of merit for II, I will
simply leave 1t to speak for itself, as am not
| fond of rehash.
As to classifying the Ne,us and Courier and
the Meeinm They were lelt to choose sn Their
will leav 1t to the public to Say whether
they should step up or down.
AS TO the "eight inches of iltemper"
referred to by the Medium. Under the cir
,vfo mo WNI111
inches of forbearance. The grand jury were
not only rebuked for expressing their Views
| but the authority was assumed and exercised
of reprimandlng the presiding Judge for per-
WAS wrong, 1t Is set down US "eight inches Of
III temper" Let others judge between us as
10 that. .,
| to wit. "the address and the signature" l re-
gret to ba unable to return the compliment as
the reply is destitute of those two lines, TO
wit: IAN address and signature" though II
gives It's own piecea beautiful heading, to wit,
"A Soft Answer I think It would have
been very becoming ut the head Of my piece.
for that is just what 1t was intended for, and
sometimes hurts, although told in Il love feast
style. though 1t is profitable for one to hear IT..
| If 1t could only flnd some crevice In the cran-
ums of those 1t is intended for, and infuse q
proper conception OF what is right and what
is wrong, and induce them to reproye the
wrong and pursue the right, 1t would well
| be worth expounding.
The fact Of how ridiculous 1t appears tor one
that has no light TO undertake to let it shine
| for the benefit of others, while he endeavors
to cover the light of Others with his bushel
md squelch 1t. is we'll worth knowing, and IT
Ia well worth while to consider that II is rath;
er a difficult task to perform, Truth that Will
prevail.
Now, what are the facts Of the case? The
grand Jury desired that the defects of the
laws that allowed unscrupuloas people to
evade their duty. and honest men to be I'm.
noSed on, be looked up and corrected and that
there he some plans adopted to try and pun
ish small offences less expensive and cumber.
some than the one now In vogue. In this, the
Medium, gets its back up and has assumed to
"squelch' the jury and to reprimand the
the e imperfections Of % our presentment be over.
looked. 1t was the best we could do. We
were not Solomons.
We have called attention to many Of the
laws that We thought needed looking after,
and for this we are again rebuked, and told
that we are arrai sning some of the best of our
people as set Of "scoundrels" and imposing
"ontrages" on the people that honored them.
Now, the Medium calls up In help-me-Cas.
siuS strain, long list of honored names. and
among them our own favorlte old war horse
. and statesman. who stands second to none IN
our esteem and affection, to either plead
guilty of being fools or knaves. The defects
| of the laws are neither chargeable TO the Stu
piility nor meanneHS of any one. They are
the result of oversight or carelrssness, and
| this was Just what we wanted to remedy.
| For Instance. the last Legislature passed n law
making the stealing Of melons misdemean- a.
or and punishable by not more than thirty
! days imprisonment or $50 fine. AS the law
stands worded it does not come under the ju-
riSdictiOn Of trial Justices because 1t is uncon-
atitutional for trial Justice To try a case
where imprisonment Is the penalty, although
he can put the accused man in jail for ninety
days, or for any length of time, 10 await trial.
SO that IL could be determined whether he
should 60 to Jail at all or not. or In case he
LII, I1,,a
event for period not to exceed thirty days.
So 1t seems that q trial justice can send per-
son accused Of crime 10 Jail for longer time
than the ircuitJudge can sentence him after
conviction.
Some Of the trial justices are trying these
cases and sentencing the criminals to about
fifteen days In jail; while others are are putting
days to see whether they should go TO jail or
not.
As to expenses. The method of trial by
ty after conviction about $3.50 for mainte-
nance of The prisoner for fifteen days. while
the second method, or trial by the upper
court, costs for maintenance OF prisoner for
days awaiting trial S27.00, cost of trial If q
short case, say for stealing five cents melon,
would be about $50 20. Or in all about SS1 so, or
If not convicted $780, or two heavy bales OF
cotton just to determine whether criminal
should 60 to jail for fifteen days or not.
Surely this could be remetied-labor con-
| QueTS Ill LulHES. NOW, uGSI6 ~ W Uc uIe-
tinctly understood that nobody is q '.scoun.
drel" for voting for this law. for too, think 1t
wrong to steal melons, but let ns have more
practical plan Of stopping 1t, and which will
two bales OF cotton for protecting one melon
is paying too dearly for the whistle, but let us
not lose our temper about It,.
| And while we Rre ut the business OF look
| Ing up The inconsistencies and uncertainties
of the laws, we would call attention to the
law in regard to the compensation of county
| treasurers. 1t needs little light, as some
contend 1t should he not more than 800 dol;
lnrs while others contend 1t should 20 to 900
dollars. See Act Dec. 9th, 'S3 and Act Dec
Goth, "a.
of the prescn tment," they are held as 'scoun-
drels, and therefore It was deemed necessary
to protest against It.. AS | understand that
means gy
lawyers are "sceundrels." ] have no copy to
refer 10, but think there is no words In the
presentment that could possibly be so con-
strued, or to put any blame whatever on the
| lawyers. Lawyers are expected to use every
| advantage of law in favor of their clients, or
not take the case. Lawyers frequently refuse
uphold q wrong or TO oppress an innocent per.
son. You could not induce first class and
| honorable lawyer to take case when he
knew 1t was malicious persecution of some
helpless unfortunate person. The grand jury
| hold honorable lawyers as high as any other
class, and detest those who prostitute their
noble and high calling for the evil sake Of
| gain.
The duties of lawyers are sometimes very
Idisagreeable to them. Tney are frequently
compelled to make enemies, and to say hard
things. and they desire to be paid for their
trouble and annoyance; and they are entitled
| TO IL. We have said, or at least have said,
that to get lawyers 10 make all Of our little
contracts and to manage all our business
would cost more than our business Ia worth,
and further that lawyers themselves frequent
| ly misapprehend the requirements Is of the law,
and that even the Judges Of the Supreme
| Court cannot agree an to what Is law on many
nninis and hence many perploXina Inv snitS